1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technique of transporting an object to be transported.
2. Description of the Related Art
When an object to be transported is transferred to a predetermined position, it must often be positioned with high accuracy. Hence, an apparatus including a transport mechanism and positioning mechanism has been proposed. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-258497, for example, discloses an apparatus including a belt conveyor which transports a pallet on which a plurality of chips are mounted, and a mechanism which positions the pallet. Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 5-82939 discloses a conveyor including a pallet positioning device. Moreover, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 7-29484 discloses a conveyor including a tray positioning mechanism.
The transport mechanism and positioning mechanism require periodical maintenance. Also, when these mechanisms have broken down, they require repair and replacement. Since such maintenance and other operations must be done while the system is kept stopped, they preferably take only a short period of time. Furthermore, when a broken transport mechanism or positioning mechanism is replaced, it requires position adjustment relative to other system components. This position adjustment operation prolongs the system downtime.